


Felix Fraldarius, Feline Friend

by deplore



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22796035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deplore/pseuds/deplore
Summary: Felix adopts a stray cat and names it Boar. Dimitri is not needy, jealous, or in competition with a cat.Dimitri can already sense that he’s about to be replaced by a cat. His instincts scream at him to do something to prevent this from actually happening, but he can’t think of anything to do or say that won’t make him come across as if he hates poor, innocent animals doing their best to survive in a cruel and senseless world. Instead, he attempts to ignore fate and says, “If there’s anything I can do to help with the cat, let me know.”“I think you have more important things to worry about,” Felix replies, which is true. “Anyway, I’m going to give Boar a bath.”“Excuse me?” Dimitri immediately replies. “Felix, I didn’t realize you – well, I’m not against that, but I took a bath last night, so – ”“That’s the cat’s name,” Felix interrupts.Dimitri stares down at the cat and isn’t sure how to label what he feels. His emotional distress doesn’t amount to much, though, because Felix promptly walks away with the cat still safely tucked away in his arms without so much as a farewell, leaving Dimitri to ponder the nature of inevitability on his own.
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 8
Kudos: 163





	Felix Fraldarius, Feline Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my [Dreamwidth](https://deplore.dreamwidth.org/). [Thank you Tai for the inspiration](https://twitter.com/taiwonton/status/1190087602671628297), meow.

Without any warning, Felix adopts a tabby cat off the streets of Fhirdiad. The cat has three legs and half a tail, so Dimitri assumes that he’s lived a violent and difficult life of nonstop feline territorial battles up until the moment he jumped into Felix’s arms. Because the cat arrives at the castle looking undernourished, mangy, and quite frankly an all-around mess, the only thing that Dimitri can think to say when he sees the cat for the first is, “Well, he certainly seems to be full of fighting spirit?”

Felix ingloriously ignores Dimitri’s stilted attempt at optimism in favor of telling him, “Don’t come to my room for a while. I’ll be keeping him there until he’s healthy, and I don’t want to risk him getting loose in the hallways while he’s recovering.”

“Alright,” Dimitri says, deflating slightly.

“Don’t be dramatic,” Felix tells him. “I’ll still come over to your room every once in a while.”

Dimitri can already sense that he’s about to be replaced by a cat. His instincts scream at him to do something to prevent this from actually happening, but he can’t think of anything to do or say that won’t make him come across as if he hates poor, innocent animals doing their best to survive in a cruel and senseless world. Instead, he attempts to ignore fate and says, “If there’s anything I can do to help with the cat, let me know.”

“I think you have more important things to worry about,” Felix replies, which is true. “Anyway, I’m going to give Boar a bath.”

“Excuse me?” Dimitri immediately replies. “Felix, I didn’t realize you – well, I’m not against that, but I took a bath last night, so – ”

“That’s the cat’s name,” Felix interrupts.

Dimitri stares down at the cat and isn’t sure how to label what he feels. His emotional distress doesn’t amount to much, though, because Felix promptly walks away with the cat still safely tucked away in his arms without so much as a farewell, leaving Dimitri to ponder the nature of inevitability on his own.  
  
  
  


Boar the cat rapidly recovers from his scrappy life on the streets and adjusts quickly to being in the literal lap of luxury; that is to say, Felix’s lap. Even though Boar is given the full run of the castle, he seems perfectly content to split his time between Felix’s bedroom, Felix’s office, and the hallways in between those locations. Dimitri almost never sees Felix working without Boar the cat either sitting on Felix’s desk or napping on Felix’s lap, and certainly never at times when Dimitri is free to drop in for a quick visit.

“Maybe I should give him an official appointment,” Dimitri jokes weakly, after the sixth or seventh time that he stops by Felix’s office hoping for some mid-afternoon canoodling to give him the energy to make it through a series of late-evening meetings.

“Sure, strip Sylvain of his title and award it to Boar instead,” Felix replies.

The worst part is that Dimitri honestly cannot tell if Felix is serious, or if he’s making a joke at Sylvain’s expense, or he’s making a joke at both Sylvain’s _and_ Dimitri’s expenses. The second worst part is that Dimitri still doesn’t know how to signal that he really wants Felix to let him put _his_ head in Felix’s lap and kiss him a few times when there’s a cat in the way – it was easier when he could just lean over and hug Felix without worrying about a third party.

 _I am not needy,_ Dimitri tells himself. _I am not impatient. And I am not in competition with a cat._

Boar the cat meows and even Dimitri has to admit it’s adorable. After getting a thorough cleaning and putting on some weight, Boar the cat is a fair looker of a feline, with shiny bright blue eyes and a fur coat that’s the perfect balance between sleek and fluffy.

“I’ll ask Sylvain to consider it,” Dimitri says.

Felix laughs very quietly, smiling for the briefest of moments. It’s not the canoodle that Dimitri was hoping for, but when beggars can’t be choosers, Dimitri isn’t too proud to eat scraps, leftovers, or weeds.  
  
  
  
  


Dimitri is finally allowed entry in Felix’s room again, but only so he can endure the cruel and unusual torture of watching Felix lavish his cat with attention. They talk about how to resolve recent affairs in the former Alliance while Felix pets Boar the cat and Dimitri repeats his internal mantra: _I am not needy. I am not impatient. I am not in competition with a cat. But Felix, I would not be opposed to also being petted like that in various places!_

“I think that’s enough business for one day,” Felix finally says. “It’s a weekend evening, after all.”

“It’s been a while since we’ve gotten to spend time together,” Dimitri replies, hoping to subtly indicate that he’d like for the cat to exit stage left.

Felix, though, either fails to receive the message or refuses to receive it. “We’re together all the time, boar,” he says.

Boar the cat meows at the sound of his name; even though Dimitri is fairly certain that Felix must be replying to him, he is nonetheless temporarily confused because Felix _could_ very well be talking about the cat instead. “I meant,” Dimitri says, “intimately?”

“If you wanted to,” Felix starts, and Dimitri’s hopes soar – “spar, then you should have just said as much,” Felix finishes, and Dimitri’s hopes land roughly in the Valley of Torment, plummeting into the metaphorical lava pits and igniting into flames. “It’s already past sunset, you’ve missed the timing.”

“I… right,” Dimitri says. His mouth goes slightly slack at the corners.

Unexpectedly, though, Felix laughs and gently pushes at Boar the cat’s rear leg; the cat understands immediately to vacate Felix’s lap so that Felix can get up. “Did you really think I was being serious?” he asks, walking over to where Dimitri is sitting and sliding a hand to the side of Dimitri’s face.

“Given that you spent a significant period of your life solely interested in swords and training, it’s honestly hard to tell sometimes,” Dimitri admits, after breathing a sigh of relief. “Can you make the cat leave first?”

Felix picks Boar the cat up and puts him in the hallway before closing the door; Dimitri is openly thankful that Felix hasn’t gotten to the point where he’s comfortable having a cat spectate. He then blissfully, happily, and indulgently proceeds to monopolize the next 12 hours of Felix’s time to prove to himself that he is most certainly not in competition with a cat, but if he _were,_ then he’s winning.

The next morning, Dimitri’s sleep is interrupted by the sensation of Boar the cat pawing at his face. Once Boar the cat has asserted his dominance by rudely and prematurely waking Dimitri up, he then very sweetly nuzzles Felix until Felix stirs.

Felix makes a sleepy humming noise and says, “Forgot… window’s open.”

Dimitri is somehow wholly unsurprised that Boar the cat thought it appropriate to risk his life breaking into Felix’s room via the window from outside. “I’ll remember to close it next time,” he says, leaning over to press a kiss to the side of Felix’s head. “Good morning.”

“Mmhm,” Felix mumbles, ignoring Dimitri in favor of lethargically petting Boar the cat. Then, with a warm, understated sort of fondness, he says, “You’re so handsome, boar.”

Dimitri temporarily stops thinking. If it weren’t for the fact that he could physically feel Felix pressed up against him while his mind short-circuited, he absolutely would have believed that he’d temporarily stopped existing on the mortal plane altogether and ascended to some kind of higher level of consciousness.

“You mean the cat, right?” Dimitri asks tremulously.

Felix just makes another vague, drowsy hum in his throat and snuggles in to sleep for a while longer.


End file.
